The debate in education is between phonics, which involves systematic sounding out of words, and whole word reading or balanced reading, which emphasizes word meaning with some focus on sounding out syllables. Despite whole word reading dominating American schools in recent decades, it has a poor track record. Advocates like Cassidy support a return to phonics as the primary method for teaching literacy. Using phonics involves breaking down words into sounds and decoding them based on known sound patterns, enabling a structured approach to reading instruction and emphasizing decoding skills over guessing.